Breaking Point
by cocopops1995
Summary: Robin's gone missing and it's up to the Titans and Batman to find him. Will they be able to work together to save Robin before it's too late? (Sequel to Mending the Broken)
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Hello lovely readers and welcome to the sequel to Mending the Broken! I know this took way longer than I said I would but honestly I didn't have any inspiration for this story but now I do! Just a quick warning: this story will not update as fast at the last one as I have gotten much busier since I wrote Mending. I will promise one chapter a week, maaaybe 2, depends on how busy I am during the week. Anyway, hope you all enjoy!**

**Oh for those of you following Turtle Justice, sorry about the delay there, it's going on a temporary hiatus for now… it will continue though, don't worry about that.**

**For those of you who haven't read Mending, I suppose you don't really need to read it, but it would help.**

**This story takes place after the Teen Titans In Tokyo movie, in other words; about 3 years after Mending and Robin and Starfire are an official item :D**

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><p><strong>Chapter 1<strong>

Masked, blue eyes opened to a world of white only to immediately slam shut in pain as bright white light accosted them. The lids remained squeezed shut for a few minutes as the pain died down before slowly opening again and then blinking rapidly as the irises adjusted to let the right amount of light in and saw… white.

White ceiling, white fluorescent lights. Masked, blue eyes slid to the left… and then to the right… and only took in more white.

'_Huh?'_

Dark hair lifted off a soft surface and blue eyes widened behind the mask as the saw that he was tied down to a bed and his usual bright, colourful costume had been replaced by a white long-sleeved t-shirt and white track-suit pants, his feet and hands were bare. He was also strapped to the bed with white restraints.

'_Someone has a thing for white… Where am I?'_

He tried to wiggle free of his restraints but the restraints we strong and tight; he wasn't going anywhere.

The room was eerily quiet, with no sound save for his own, slow breathing. Blue eyes slid shut as he tried to think of the last thing he remembered but could only come up with vague images and sounds-a flash of light, a boom and a screaming of his name-not exactly a good combination of memories to ever have.

He thought he might have been caught in an explosion and gotten separated from his team and then… what? Kidnapped by some madman? He supposed it wouldn't be the first time, but it sure hadn't happened in a long time. Who, he wondered, had taken him this time? And for what purpose? To blackmail his team perhaps? Or his father? It had been a long time since he'd been kidnapped for the latter reason but that did not put it out of the question. He could even be dealing with some new villain with a thing for white; he definitely didn't know any villains with a thing for white…

His thoughts were cut off by the sudden introduction of a sudden noise. Lids flew open as blue eyes flew around what he could see of the room in search of the source of the sound but could find none. It seemed as if it was coming from all directions. Static; and it was getting louder, he wanted to lift his hands to cover his ears but the white restraints made that impossible.

White. White ceiling, white walls, white clothes, white restraints and the noise, static was sometimes referred to as white noise. White, white, white, white. Something about it was ringing a bell in his mind but he couldn't quite reach it. The noise was now threatening to overwhelm him and he was quickly losing his composure; his breathing picked up speed and he strained against his restraints, wanting nothing more to get away from the noise.

Then, as suddenly as it came the noise stopped, leaving only a ringing in his ears, and in that instant he knew what was happening. Whoever had kidnapped him was subjecting him to white torture. He had read about it once as a part of his training. It was a type of psychological torture, he remembered now, that included extreme sensory deprivation and isolation, he swallowed hard; it was used to cause victims to lose their personal identity through long periods of isolation.

Suddenly he had a sneaking suspicion of who might be behind this. He could think of only two people who would want him to lose his personal identity. The M.O. didn't really fit either of his suspects but they were both so unpredictable that he wouldn't be surprised if it was either of them.

He thought he heard a door open and close somewhere beyond his field of vision but when no one appeared for a long moment he thought he may have imagined it. He was proved wrong, however, by a sudden invasion of colour to his left. The sudden appearance of orange of black contrasted so strongly with the white of the room that it hurt his eyes to look at the man leaning over him.

"Slade." He hissed; his breath still not fully under control.

"Little Bird," the man addressed him, "Comfortable?"

"Let me go and I'll show you just how comfortable I am!" he sneered in reply

"Tsk, tsk," the man tutted, "That attitude of yours has always been a problem but no matter, soon it will no longer be a problem."

"What do you want, Slade?"

"The same thing I've always wanted, boy, and this is how I will get it. A few months in here and you will be mine."

"I will _never _be yours!"

"You say that now but soon…"

"Soon my friends will find me and then I will personally take delight in kicking your butt."

Slade chuckled, "They'll never find us here. We're not even in your little city any more. Your uniform and your communicator were incinerated back in Jump City, they have no way of finding you and neither does the Bat. You are all alone here and soon you won't even remember them. Then, when you have forgotten them and you are a shell of who you are now, I will help you build your mind back up and you will be the perfect apprentice."

"No." Robin denied, shaking his head vehemently

"Oh yes. From now on you are not Robin, you have no name, no family, no friends. You. Are. Nobody."

"NO!"

Slade didn't reply, he simply turned and walked away. As soon as the door closed the static started again and Robin squeezed his eyes shut shook his head hard.

'_No, he's wrong. I am Robin. My name is Richard John Grayson. Bruce and Alfred are my family and so are my friends: Cyborg, Raven, Beast Boy and Starfire. I won't forget them! I won't!"_

He tried to focus on his friends and family but the noise was just too much, it was getting too loud and he couldn't focus on anything else.

_'Bruce,' _he sobbed silently, _'I just want to go home... please...'_


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: hello you lovely readers! Thanks for the awesome reviews as well as the follows and favs! Sorry this took so long but my laptop crashed and so I had to retype this whole chapter and I've been sick too so yeah... but here it is! Enjoy!**

**For those of you who have read my more random pieces (e.g. Batman Smells and Let it Go (Superman's Version) ) I posted a super random one the other night, it's called Dick Grayson and it's a parody of the song Ghostbusters, if that song is before your time, check it out on YouTube first)**

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><p><strong>Chapter 2<strong>

The world came back to her slowly. She breathed in and immediately started coughing as dust invaded her airways. She blinked as she heard someone call her name.

_'Robin?'_

She heard her name called again, _'No... Cyborg... but where is Robin then?'_

She looked around and found that she was under a pile of rubble so she pushed it off her and stood up.

"Cyborg?" She called

"Starfire!" His voice was muffled, as if he was speaking through a wall, "Are you okay?"

"I am well, Cyborg." She called back as she created a ball of energy around her hand to light the area up, "I do not see any of our friends!"

"Raven and Beast Boy are with me." Cyborg called in answer; it seemed as if his voice was coming from behind a pile of rubble to her left

"What about Robin?" She called

"I'm going to blast through the rubble, move back!"

Starfire did as she was told but did not miss the fact that Cyborg had failed to answer her question and that was not a good sign.

As soon as Cyborg stepped through the dust that his blast had thrown back into the air she asked again: "Where is Robin?"

Cyborg's face was grim, "I don't know; I was hoping he was with you."

"He is not. We were separated by the blast."

Cyborg nodded, "My bio-sensors aren't picking him up at all and he's not answering his communicator. I was hoping that it was because of the interference from the rubble."

"He cannot just be gone! Scan for him again!" Starfire exclaimed as Raven and Beast Boy joined him.

"I just did, Star. He's not here." Cyborg answered patiently

"Have you tried calling him on his communicator again?" She asked

"Yes." Raven answered, "Still nothing."

"Where could he have gone? He would not have just left us here!" Starfire exclaimed

"Of course he wouldn't, Star." Beast Boy assured her, "Maybe he woke up before we did and went to get help. You said he got separated from you in the blast, maybe he found a way out. I'm sure he'll be back in no time."

"That still doesn't explain why he isn't answering his communicator." Cyborg said

"Maybe it was damaged in the blast." Raven supplied

"I suppose it's possible." Cyborg said dubiously

Starfire wanted to believe that what Beast Boy had suggested was true, but a gnawing feeling in her grug was telling her that he was wrong, and one of the first things she had ever learnt from Robin was to always trust her grug.

"Perhaps." She agreed for now.

"So, what? We just wait here for Robin?" Beast Boy asked

"Well if his communicator is broken and he's bringing back help back then we'll have to wait for him. You know he'll freak out if he gets back and we're all gone." Raven answered

"You're right. If he's not back within the hour we'll start to worry."

"Perhaps in the mean time we can try to determine what caused the explosion?" Starfire suggested, "I have never known Doctor Light to employ such sneaky tactics."

"Me neither." Cyborg agreed, "And come to think of it, I didn't see him at all before the explosion. Did any of you see him?"

The others shook their heads

"And he's all about being in the spotlight." Raven remarked.

"Hmm, this whole thing isn't like him." Cyborg mused, "Alright, let's split up, maybe we'll have something by the time Robin gets back."

Starfire sighed as she began her search for any clues as to what had happened. She hated when what were supposed to be simple missions ended up being anything but simple. They had merely been responding to a reported sighting of Doctor Light but had arrived only to find an empty, abandoned warehouse. Never one to abandon a possible lead; Robin had ordered that they at least search the warehouse for any sign of Doctor Light before continuing their search elsewhere. They hadn't been inside for very long before the explosion had gone off and she remembered calling out to him before blacking out.

"Hey guys, I think I found something!" Cyborg called

Starfire and the rest of the Titans quickly joined him to see what he had found.

"It looks like the origin of the explosion." Cyborg explained, pointing at a big circle with black blast lines radiating outward around it, "Looks like the bomb was waiting for someone."

"And by 'someone' you mean 'us'" Beast Boy stated

Cyborg shrugged, "It's a possibility. See if you can find bomb fragments, I might be able to find out who made it."

The Titans spread out again, searching for bomb fragments and gathered together again a little over an hour later.

"I'll need to get back to the tower to put it all together." Cyborg said

"Robin has still not returned." Starfire stated

"It's been almost two hours." Raven added

"You're right." Cyborg said, "Alright, let's head back to the tower and start our search from there. Maybe he was concussed and passed out there or something."

Starfire hoped Cyborg was right but couldn't ignore the feeling that he was probably wrong.

'_Robin, where are you?'_

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><p><strong>AN 2: Just a quick note, I'm going to try to have the next chapter up by the end of the week but I am still sick and my brain is totally not in it... also i might be spending the next three weeks after that in areas with no internet so I won't be able to post but I will have time to write so by the time I get back I should have most of the rest of the story done so I will be able to post faster when I get back!<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Bruce Wayne had been in an unusually good mood all day. He supposed it was probably because Dick was due to come for a visit in a few days, that usually put him in a good mood. Even work had been enjoyable for a change; he had no frustrating telephone calls and the only meeting he'd had was with Lucius and it was to discuss his favourite part of his job: new ideas for the R&D department. Since his only meeting had been with Lucius he was able to leave work early, which meant he hit no traffic and so the good mood had lasted.

Even later that evening after he had donned the cowl and become Batman, the good mood had stayed. Of course that didn't mean that Batman had a huge grin on his face all night, because that would have been absolutely ludicrous, but his mood was still brighter than usual and it had stayed that way for most of the night. Right up until he had received a call from Starfire.

"Batman here." He answered the call

"Batman! You must come to Jump City immediately! We have run out of places to search and we haven't heard from him in two days and Cyborg denies it but I fear we will not find him without your help and -"

"Starfire!" He cut her off, "You're not making any sense. Start from the beginning."

"Okay." He heard her take a deep breath before she started again, "Robin is missing."

And with those three simple, terrifying words, Batman's mood had hit rock bottom with an almighty crash.

"What?!" He growled in response

"Please, you must come help us find him!"

"I'll be there in two and a half hours." And with that he cut the call and then growled into the communicator embedded in his cowl, "Batman to base."

"Here, sir." Alfred answered almost immediately, "Is everything alright?"

"No." Batman replied, "I just received a call from Starfire. Robin is missing."

"Oh dear Lord."

"I'm on my way back now. Prep the plane; I want to leave as soon as I get home."

"Of course, sir, I will see you soon."

Batman grunted in response, "Batman out."

Exactly two and a half hours later Batman walked into the living area of Titans' Tower only to find the Titans bickering about where they should search for Robin next instead of actually doing something useful. No one noticed his entrance except for Raven who looked up from where she had been watching the others bicker with a trace of annoyance on her face and simply stared at him expectantly.

He took another step forward before clearing his throat to get their attention. Under different circumstances their reactions would have amused him: Starfire and Beast Boy both squeaked and quickly ducked behind Cyborg who let out a surprised "Whoa!" before taking two steps back and Raven simply watched them with a raised eyebrow, but Robin wasn't there, with his signature smirk, to sigh dramatically and ask if they would ever not get a heart attack every time Batman came to visit and that is what made the difference between Batman finding their reactions amusing and him finding them to be just plain annoying.

"Perhaps," he grumbled, "If you lot spent less time bickering," he shot a glare at Cyborg, Starfire and Beast Boy, "And more time paying attention to your surroundings," he glanced at Raven, "You wouldn't have lost Robin."

The whole team exchanged guilty glances before Cyborg spoke up, "How did you know Robin was missing? We haven't even contacted Titans East about it yet."

"It was I who called him." Starfire answered

"What? But I told you we have it under control!"

"If that were true, Cyborg," Batman all but spat the name out, "You would have been in the field now instead of bickering over where you should search next!"

Cyborg looked down at his feet but didn't say anything

"Give me a full brief, now." Batman ordered.

Cyborg sighed before reluctantly beginning to explain the events of the night Robin went missing, "We've searched basically the whole city," he wound down, "But we haven't been able to find any sign of him. We were just debating over which of the few places left we should search next."

"And what about the bomb fragments? Did you finish reassembling them?" Batman asked

Cyborg nodded, "Whoever built it is good and left no signature so I couldn't trace it to anyone."

Batman nodded, "How many places do you still have left to search?"

"The old warehouse district near the docks and Slade's old haunt and its surrounding areas."

"I say we should have searched Slade's old haunt first." Beast Boy put in, "The last time Robin went missing like this was when Slade kidnapped him and forced him to be his apprentice."

"We don't even know that Slade is alive!" Cyborg argued, "It can't be him."

"We don't know that he's dead either," Raven countered, "The last time Robin and I saw him he was alive and well."

"And he was only alive because of Trigon; he most probably died again when we defeated Trigon." Cyborg argued, "We haven't seen or heard from Slade since then and that was what? Three years ago? If he were still after Robin don't you think he would have tried before now?"

"You know how meticulous he is," Raven said, "He spent months terrorizing us before he took Robin the last time, maybe he's been planning whatever it is he's doing now for this whole time."

Cyborg opened his mouth to lodge another argument but was silenced by Batman, who uttered one, low word: "Quiet."

All bickering stopped as each Titan turned to look at Batman, "Cyborg's argument makes sense," he acknowledged, "But," he carried on before Cyborg could send a smug look at Raven, "So does Raven's. One cannot throw out a theory in a case so dire even if it doesn't seem to make sense, especially when it comes to an adversary as unpredictable as Slade; understood?"

Raven, Starfire and Beast Boy nodded readily in agreement when Cyborg only did so begrudgingly.

"I believe that you should have searched Slade's old haunt first." Batman continued, "Especially if the majority of the team seemed to think that he was behind it."

Cyborg scowled, "If Slade did take Robin then he wouldn't have gone there, it's the first place we would look if we suspected him!"

"Yes, and he might reason that you would think that and ignore the place until it was your last option. Which you obviously have done."

Cyborg opened his mouth to argue but was once again cut off by Batman, "Whether or not he really is there remains to be seen, but sometimes answers present themselves in the most obvious places."

Starfire nodded vigorously, "That is what Robin says whenever we are having difficulty locating somebody or someone."

"Yeah it's exactly what he said before he led us into that warehouse to be blown up." Cyborg grumbled

Instantly his team turned on him

"That was NOT Robin's fault!" Starfire yelled indignantly, "How could you say such a thing?"

"Yeah, man, what gives?" Beast Boy asked, crossing his arms and looking upset for the first time ever since Batman had met him.

"Or did you forget all the times Robin was right and it led us to the answers we were searching for?" Raven added

"You are his best friend," Starfire added accusingly, "How _could _you?"

Cyborg hung his head and lifted his arms up in surrender, "I'm sorry guys," he said as he looked up at them, "I didn't mean it that way. I just…"

"You're stressed out." Beast Boy allowed, "We all are."

Starfire nodded, "That is why I called Batman; we are lost without Robin."

The others nodded before turning their attention to Batman, who had not moved during the whole altercation.

"Slade's haunt?" Cyborg asked

Batman nodded, although he was not used to working with a team of teenage heroes, he got the feeling that if he tried to exclude them things would not end well, "Let's go."

'_I'm coming, Robin, just hang on for a little while longer.'_

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><p><strong>AN: Cyborg fans, please don't hate on me, everyone says things they don't mean when they're stressed!<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Hey guys, sorry this is a little late but I've been struggling with this chapter all week; it just didn't want to flow I guess… but here it is! Hope you guys enjoy it!**

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><p><span><strong>Chapter 4<strong>

Robin had described Slade's haunt to him before so he was not surprised when the Titans led him to a warehouse that looked old and dilapidated from the outside. What he wasn't expecting, however, was what it looked like on the inside.

"Whoa, who revamped the haunt?" Beast Boy asked, "And when did they do it?"

"I don't know when," Cyborg answered slowly, "But I've got a pretty good idea who."

"Why would he only revamp the inside?" Raven wondered

"Most likely to stay off your radar. Robin does still monitor this place, doesn't he?" Batman asked

"Yeah he does," Cyborg answered, "But then how did he miss people coming in to revamp the inside?"

"I don't know." Batman answered as he moved further into the haunt.

"Where are the Sladebots?" Beast Boy wondered, "We should have run into some by now."

"You're right." Cyborg answered, "But I don't see any..."

"Maybe Robin took them all out." Beast Boy said

"If Robin took them all out then where is he? And where are the beat-up bots?" Cyborg asked

"Maybe Robin escaped and Slade cleaned up the bots! We probably just missed it!" Beast Boy said

"Yeah I don't think so." Raven answered

"Bunch of pessimists." Beast Boy muttered

"Quiet." Batman grumbled

They soon came into what Batman thought must have been Slade's main operations room as five wall-to-floor screens covered the back wall.

"Slade had our vitals displayed on those screens when he was blackmailing Robin into being his apprentice." Cyborg said

Suddenly Starfire gasped and ran forward towards a colourful pile of material sitting in the middle of the floor. She fell to her knees and looked through the ripped pieces of material. She gasped again as she pulled out what looked like a piece of red cloth from the pile.

"Starfire? What is it?" Cyborg asked as Batman moved to kneel next to her.

She handed the piece of red material to Batman and he almost gasped too. It was a piece of a red tunic, ripped in places, with the remains of a yellow R embroided onto it.

"Robin." He murmured as he looked down at the pile of red, green, yellow and black material

"Look." Starfire said as she pushed the pile of shredded cloth aside. Underneath it was an S in a circle.

"Slade." She and Batman growled in unison.

Suddenly the screens flickered to life.

"Children," Slade's smug, velvety smooth voice washed over them, "You've taken so long. Robin would be disappointed, if he was able to worry about you lot at the moment. Oh and I see you've brought Batman in on it too. Don't trust a bunch of kids with your baby bird, hmm?"

"Slade!" Batman snarled, leaping to his feet, "Where. Is. Robin?"

"Ahh that's for me to know, Batman, for me to know." Slade answered in a condescending tone.

"What have you done with him?!" Starfire demanded

"I believe 'what am I _doing _to him' would be the correct way to phrase that question." Slade answered menacingly.

"Slade you sick son of a-" Batman started

"Ah, ah, ah, Batman, there are children present." Slade cut him off.

"Where. Is. He?" Batman growled, his voice coming out so low that it sent shivers down the Titans' spines.

"He's just in the other room." Slade answered, "Here I'll show you."

The screens flickered and suddenly they were staring at a room so white it hurt their eyes to look at it. The only break in the white was the black of Robin's mask and of his hair. Batman felt his breath catch as he caught sight of his son. Robin was dressed completely in white and was strapped down with white restraints to a white bed, but that wasn't what bothered Batman, it was Robin's behavior.

Robin was thrashing on the bed, trying his best to get free but obviously failing. Batman could see that his boy was panicking; tears streamed down his face and his chest was heaving frantically. There was no sound so when Robin's mouth moved his team mates couldn't hear what he was saying, but Batman didn't need sound; he could read lips and therefore could see exactly what his son was saying, and it broke his heart.

_'Please, make it stop! Make it stop! Please!' _and when that didn't seem to work: '_Bruce... please... help...'_

Bruce felt like his heart was being ripped out, it reminded him of that time he had come home to find Dick on the couch in the den, having a nightmare and begging for the imagined torture to stop, and now Bruce was watching him beg for real torture to stop. It made Bruce sick.

"Robin!" Starfire called out in horror as she too took in the scene on the screens.

Batman tore his gaze away from his son to the Titans. Cyborg and Beast Boy were staring at the screen in abject horror, seemingly unable to avert their gazes; Beast Boy looked as if he might be sick. Raven was also staring at the screen and for once Batman could read the emotion on her face, she was just as horrified as the rest of them but, unlike the others, she seemed to be glowing. Tears were streaming from Starfire's eyes but Batman could see fury and determination quickly beginning to replace the horror in her eyes.

The screen flickered again and Slade reappeared.

"What are you doing to him you sick monster?!" Cyborg demanded immediately

"I'm reconditioning him." Slade answered blandly, as if it was obvious, and to Batman it was, glaringly so, "Blackmail didn't work as his friends were always a distraction, but by the time I'm done with him he won't even remember his own name and then he will be mine. I will build him up into the perfect assassin apprentice that he was always meant to be."

"Not if we have anything to do with it!" Cyborg retaliated, "When we find you you'll regret the day you laid eyes on Robin, do you hear me?!"

Slade chuckled, "Silly boy, you will never find me. I'm not even in Jump City anymore! Granted you may have found him if you had searched my old haunt first, as I'm sure Robin would have done, but oh well."

"You are wrong." Starfire said, "We will find you because we will not stop until Robin is safely with us, where he belongs."

Slade shrugged nonchalantly, "Perhaps you're right, but by the time you find him it will be too. Late. And don't think that having Batman with you will help at all, I've done my research and have learnt that the best place to hide something from a bat is right under its furry little nose."

Batman bristled, "It doesn't matter where you hide, Slade," he growled so low that his throat would hurt for days afterward, "It doesn't matter how many times you switch locations, it doesn't matter how good you think you are. I will find you, and I will make you regret the day you were born."

It took a few minutes for Slade to reply, "I'd like to see you try." And with that he ended the communication.

For a moment there was silence. Then Cyborg crossed his arms with a determined look on his face and said: "Challenge accepted."


	5. Chapter 5

Cyborg was about ready to throw something. He had spent the past two days trying to track down the signal Slade had used to send them that video message but the signal kept bouncing from ISP address to ISP address all over the world, making it impossible to track.

Robin had been missing for 4 days now and they were still no closer to finding him. They had searched Slade's haunt from top to bottom on three different occasions in the past two days and the only clue they found was that Slade's message had been recorded. Batman had spent the last two days watching that video over and over again; trying to pick up on any clues that Slade may have unintentionally dropped while he was speaking and listening to background noises to try and determine the location. Batman had barely come out of Robin's office {where he used to obsess over Slade} in the past two days and Cyborg now knew where Robin had learnt to obsess.

Raven, Beast Boy and Starfire had been in contact with the Titans all over the world to see if had heard anything that might lead them to Robin and if they hadn't to start looking. So far they hadn't had any luck either.

Cyborg took a deep breath and tried to focus on not throwing his laptop across the room.

_'Maybe I should go blow off some steam in the gym.`_

He was just about to act on that thought when Batman walked into his lab. The Dark Knight looked exhausted, as if he might pass out soon and, if how Robin acted in similar situations was anything to go by, the fact that Cyborg could tell as much without scanning his vitals meant that he really was about to pass out.

"Cyborg." Batman said, his voice devoid of it's usual gravel, "Any luck?"

Cyborg sighed, "The signal keeps bouncing all over the place. I can't trace it."

Batman let loose a heavy sigh and his posture slumped almost unnoticeably.

"I guess you didn't find anything either."

Batman shook his head, "Nothing to give me an exact location."

"Damn." Cyborg muttered, resisting the urge to punch the nearest wall.

"I'm going to go back to Slade's haunt, there must be something we're missing." Batman said, straightening up and walking out of the lab.

"Um Batman?" Cyborg called after him, "No offence, sir, but you look like you're about to pass out, maybe you should get some rest first?"

"I'll rest when we have Robin back." Batman answered simply and carried on walking.

"Okay, look," Cyborg said, stepping in front of Batman, "I know you're worried about him, we all are, but you won't be any help to him if you're too tired to actually notice anything that we may have missed."

Batman glared at him, "Do you know what Slade is putting Robin through? It's called 'white torture', a type of sensory deprivation. Victims have come out unable to remember who their parents are, and that's without them being strapped down for the entire duration of the torture. Robin is running out of time. There is no time for us to rest!"

Cyborg almost backed down and let Batman leave right then but he had scanned Batman's vitals and he knew for a fact that the man would be able to go on much longer.

"If there's anyone who can make it through this it's Robin." Cyborg said slowly, "You can't help him if you're too tired and I think you know it."

Batman glared again but Cyborg refused to back down until Batman finally looked away.

"I'm going back in two hours." he stated before turning on his heel and heading for the sleeping quarters.

"Dude," Beast Boy said, seemingly appearing out of nowhere, "How did you do that?"

Cyborg shrugged, "It was kind of like dealing with Robin." he answered, "Any luck in East City?"

Beast Boy shook his head, "We need a break and we need one _now._"

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><p>An hour and a half later Batman stepped into the gym where Cyborg was busy venting his frustrations.<p>

"Cyborg." he said

Cyborg paused mid-punch and looked to Batman who actually seemed to be looking normal again.

"You on your way out?" Cyborg asked.

"Maybe a little later, but first: do you still have the bomb fragments from when Robin was taken?"

Cyborg looked at him quizzically, "Yeah but I ran them through every database I have access to; the League's included."

"There are a few bomb makers I know of that aren't in any databases." Batman answered, "So I would like to have a look at the fragments."

Cyborg shrugged, "Alright." he said and led Batman back to his lab where he pulled out the bomb fragments and let Batman examine them.

"What makes you think you'll recognise something in the fragments?" Cyborg asked after a moment.

"Something Slade said in the communication that's been bothering me." Batman answered.

"Which part?" Cyborg asked, "All of it bothers me."

" 'The best place to hide something from a bat is under its furry little nose.' " Batman quoted in answer.

"So what do you think he meant by that?"

"I'm not certain," Batman answered as he picked up a magnifying glass and leaned in close to one of the fragments, "But I think it might mean that he's in..." he paused as he picked up the fragment he'd been studying and held it closer to the magnifying glass and turned it over; examining all sides, "... Gotham. Damn it!"

"Woah, wait! He's in Gotham?! What makes you so sure?" Cyborg asked as Batman spun around and left the lab.

"The bomb was made by a man named Sheldon Cooper; he was behind a string of bombings in Gotham lately." Batman answered as he turned towards the tower's hangar, "I caught him two weeks ago."

"Will you be able to get in to talk to him if he's in prison?" Cyborg asked.

"Yes; the commissioner and I have a long history." Batman said as the bat-plane's door started opening.

"Great!" Cyborg said, "So you go ahead to talk to Cooper and we'll follow in the T-plane. Where should we meet you?"

Batman stopped and turned around to face Cyborg, "You're not going to meet me anywhere. You'll be staying here."

"What?!" Cyborg asked incredulously

"Gotham's my city. I will find Robin on my own." Batman said before turning back to the bat-plane.

"Man, that's a load of bull-crap and you know it!" Cyborg exclaimed.

"This is not up for debate, Cyborg!" Batman growled.

"Of course it's up for argument! Robin is our teammate, our leader, our _brother_! Who are you to suddenly exclude us from the search now that he might be in 'your' " he used his fingers to put the word 'your' in punctuation marks, "City?!"

"Cyborg-" Batman growled.

"No! This is a load of crap, Batman! We've all done everything we could to help find Robin as a team! You can't cut us out now! We deserve to help find Robin too!"

"You are not coming with, Cyborg. Gotham is not a place for a bunch of inexperienced teenagers."

"Oh, but it was okay for Robin when he was eight?" Cyborg burst out, "You know I always wondered why Robin left Gotham all those years ago when we started this team, but I'm beginning to understand now."

Batman glared at Cyborg so fiercely that he thought all his metal parts might melt but he didn't back down.

"I don't have time for this!" Batman stated before spinning around again.

"Batman!"

"I'll contact you with co-ordinates for a meeting after I speak to Cooper." Batman said.

"Yeah, we'll meet you on top of the police precinct." Cyborg said.

"Fine." Batman ground out, "Meet me there in three hours."

With that he disappeared into the bat-plane.

Cyborg went to the main room in the tower and quickly called the rest of the Titans.

"We're going to Gotham."

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><p><strong>AN: Hey guys, sorry this one is sooo late but I did warn you that I would be going on holiday a few chapters ago! Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed! Feel free to point out any mistakes because I haven't gone through this chapter yet since it's late and I didn't want to make you guys wait much longer for this chapter! Next one should be out by Sunday or Monday... I hope ;) <strong>


	6. Chapter 6

There wasn't much he was sure of anymore. He wasn't sure where he was, he wasn't sure what was happening to him or why but most of all... most of all he wasn't sure of who he was anymore. He wasn't sure of his name or where he came from, everything seemed to be lost to him.

No, there wasn't much he was sure of anymore, but there were three things he was sure of, and he clung to those three things like a drowning man clings to a floating log.

He was sure that the man with black and orange mask was bad and never to be trusted. He was sure that the only person he ever could trust was a man dressed entirely in black with a bat on his chest and most of all... most of all he was absolutely certain that he needed to escape.

He knew not how long he had been in this white hell of a prison and he'd lost count of the amount of times he'd tried to escape but he hadn't stopped trying. His failures at escape were marked by the bandages wrapped round his hands from the two different occasions when he'd dislocated a thumb in an attempt to free his hands in order to free himself from the rest of his bonds. The man with the black and orange mask had come to stop him within minutes and had relocated his thumbs without giving him so much as a pain pill. For some reason that had hurt more that when they'd been dislocated.

He'd accidentally dislocated his shoulder too during one of his escape attempts, it had been treated in the same manner as his thumbs. He hadn't been able to hold back the pained scream that tore through his throat at that point. The man with the black and orange mask had merely tsked at him and told him that he had brought it on himself before leaving the room. The noise in the room had returned then, much louder than before, his head felt like it might explode.

It had given him an idea for a plan though. The man with the black and orange mask had freed his arm in order to pop his shoulder back, the only reason why he hadn't utilised the opportunity to escape was because he hadn't been expecting any of it, but next time he would be ready. He wasn't particularly happy with the idea of having to dislocate his shoulder again, but he would need at least one good arm if he was going to escape.

He would also need to build up his strength if he wanted any chance of fighting the man with the black and orange mask off. That meant that he would have to be complacent the next time the man came in to put the tubes into him. He was pretty sure that those tubes were what kept him from dying of starvation and dehydration but he still tried his best to fight whenever the man came to insert the tubes into his arm, partly because he didn't trust anything that the man with the orange and black mask did, but mostly because he hated being poked by needles. Hmmm... well that at least put the number of things he was sure of up to four. The maddening sound also ceased when the man came in and he would pass out from exhaustion minutes after the man finished inserting the tubes. Sometimes he wondered if it was more than the exhaustion, maybe something mixed into the clear liquid that emptied out of the little bag into his veins, that made him pass out but he couldn't be sure. Not that it mattered. What mattered was that he not fight sleep this time but embrace it. He would need all the rest he could get before the noise exploded back on and tore him from his slumber as it did every single time. He sighed, at least he seemed to be getting better at tuning the noise out to a certain extent, he -

His thought cut off as the noise suddenly stopped. Time for his daily tubing. At least he assumed it was a daily occurrence since he didn't really have much of a concept of time anymore.

He heard the sound of a door opening and closing followed by the sound of approaching footsteps and the squeak of small wheels travelling across the floor. The man with the orange and black mask suddenly appeared in his field of vision and he instinctively snarled and tensed, suddenly unable to control his body's reactions. He just wanted to get out. Out of these restraints, out of this room, out of wherever here was. He just wanted it all to stop, he wanted to go _home._ The fact that he didn't even know where home was was enough to bring tears to his eyes but he blinked them back furiously. He refused to show any weakness in front of his tormentor if he could at all help it.

The man didn't say anything, which was a little strange because the man usually couldn't stop telling him how much of a useless nobody he was, but he couldn't care less. He just watched impassively as the man inserted the tube into his arm. The man made as to leave but then suddenly turned and grabbed his injured shoulder. He wasn't expecting it and so he couldn't help crying out, the tears that he had been fighting back forced over the edge by the sudden pain. The man only chuckled before releasing his grip and leaving again.

He was breathing hard as he waited for the pain to subside. He didn't understand why the man took so much pleasure in causing him pain, but it didn't matter. The next time he woke up he would escape... or he would do his best to die trying.


	7. Chapter 7

It was in the early hours of the fifth morning since the last time Robin had been with them that Raven descended from the T-plane with her teammates to meet Batman and a man who she knew to be Commissioner Gordon from one of the few memories she had accidentally gained access to when she had linked her mind to Robin's for the first time. Raven let out a soft sigh as she landed on the roof of the police station; she had attempted to use the link she shared with Robin to try and verify whether or not he was in the city but hadn't felt anything that she could be sure really was Robin. There had been a faint trace of something that might have been him, but for all she knew it could have just been some lingering traces of him emanating from his home, she was even picking up the same vague sense of him coming the very building they were standing on. She would need to be closer to Robin to actually access his mind again. If he even was in this city. She shook her head slightly; if Beast Boy could hear her thoughts he would frown at her and tell her to stop being so pessimistic. The thought drew a slight frown to her face, what did that have to do with anything? It didn't matter what Beast Boy's reaction to her thoughts would be! _'Get a grip, Raven!' _she chastised herself as Batman explained to the commissioner who the new arrivals were and what they were doing there.

The commissioner merely raised an eyebrow at Batman, "Thought you didn't like having strangers in Gotham."

Batman grimaced, "I don't." he ground out and offered no further explanation.

"So did Sheldon Cooper tell you anything useful?" Cyborg asked Batman

"Possibly," Batman answered, "He said that he had been contacted by an anonymous buyer to build a bomb that wouldn't do too much damage and that would release a knock out gas when it exploded. He was given instructions to drop the bomb off in a warehouse near the docks. There was a bag of money waiting for him when he got there. He left the bomb, took the money and never heard from the buyer again."

"Did he give you an address?" Cyborg asked

Batman gave a curt nod, "I'm sending it to you now. I'll meet you there." With that Batman turned, shot out a line and disappeared into the night.

"You know, I think it looks cooler when Robin does that, you know, 'cause you can actually see him when he does it." Beast Boy commented.

Raven rolled her eyes but she had to admit that he was right, not that she would ever do so out loud.

"He's missing, isn't he?" the commissioner asked as they prepared to go back to the T-plane.

"Batman didn't tell you?" Cyborg asked.

Commissioner Gordon scoffed, "Batman, tell me something like that? Now that would be an interesting occurrence. I'd probably fall over from shock."

The others seemed taken a back at that statement but Raven wasn't surprised. Batman hadn't even wanted them to come with to find Robin, why would he even tell the commissioner that Robin was missing? The others never thought of things that way though, only Robin did, which was why he was such a good leader for them. He could read each of them like a book and he acted upon what he saw written on their faces, in their body language and in their behaviour, to ensure that they always worked well together and that they never felt lonely, misunderstood or unwanted; as they had been before the Teen Titans had been formed. They needed him to keep them together. Cyborg took the lead well enough when he needed too but he lacked that ability to read all of them that Robin did and Raven was certain that if they didn't get Robin back soon the team would fall apart. They needed to find him soon!

Raven grimaced as the lightbulb over the roof entrance of the police entrance suddenly blew out, causing the commissioner to nearly jump two meters in the air. She needed to get a grip on her emotions; she'd never find Robin if she didn't.

"We need to leave." She interrupted whatever Cyborg had been telling the commissioner before taking off without waiting for a reply.

As soon as she got into the T-plane she immediately started her meditation, clearing her mind of all things except finding Robin's mind.

She didn't notice as the others also boarded the plane or as they started flying toward the docks. The faint traces of him seemed to be growing stronger and she latched on to them, trying to locate Robin himself but it seemed as if he was just out of her reach, like if she could reach only a little further she would reach him but it was as if something was preventing her from actually getting to him.

"Raven."

Her eyes snapped open as she felt a light weight land on her shoulder. She looked over to see a green hand resting there and immediately shot an annoyed glare up at Beast Boy's worried mien.

He immediately removed his hand, "We're at the docks, Batman's probably waiting for us." He told her as he stepped back out of her personal space.

She grimaced as she unfolded her limbs and ceased levitating in mid-air.

"Find anything?" Beast Boy inquired as they moved towards the T-plane's exit.

She frowned as she nodded, "It's weird though, he's close, I can definitely feel him, but it's like he's mind is enclosed behind some kind of wall." She told him.

He stopped before transforming so that he could fly down to join Cyborg and Starfire on the ground below, "You think Slade's doing something to block you?" he asked worriedly, "I mean he was working for your father the last time we saw him, what if he knows some way to take you out specifically? Maybe he knows about your mind link with Robin?"

Raven shook her head, "If he was using anything he learnt from his time with my father I'd be able to sense it. This is different, I don't know what exactly it is and I can't explain it, but I don't think Slade's behind it."

Beast Boy still looked worried but there wasn't much else she could do to ease his worries.

"Come on, the others are waiting." She said as she prepared to step out of the plane.

"Raven," he called her back, he blushed slightly as she turned and looked at him expectantly, "You'll, uh, you'll tell us if you do feel something like Slade using any of your father's methods, right?"

Raven couldn't stop a small smile from forming on her lips as she nodded, "Come on."

"What took so long?" Cyborg asked as Raven and Beast Boy landed.

"Raven was trying to find Robin." Beast Boy answered.

"Oh, were you able to find him?" Starfire asked, staring at Raven pleadingly.

Raven was glad to actually have good news for her for once, "I can't pinpoint him exactly, but he's definitely close by."

"Oh that is wonderful!" Starfire exclaimed, rising a few centimetres into the air, "Come friends, let us go find and inform Batman so that we may work together to find him faster!"

"We're coming, Star." Beast Boy said with a slight grin as Cyborg led the way to the warehouse at the address they Batman got from Sheldon Cooper.

The warehouse was dark when they entered and Starfire immediately manifested a ball of energy around her hand to light the area up.

"You think Batman's here yet?" Beast Boy asked.

"You're late." Batman's voice suddenly came from the darkness causing Beast Boy to jump about a meter in the air and then jump behind Raven.

Batman seemed to materialise out of the darkness where his voice had come from a few seconds later causing Starfire and Cyborg to start and take a step back. Raven rolled her eyes; you'd think they'd be used to it by now.

"We got a little caught up." Cyborg said, "Raven says Robin is close."

Batman's gaze moved to Raven, "How do you know?"

"Robin told you about the time I linked our minds?" Raven asked.

Batman nodded.

"Ever since then we've shared a kind of a mental connection, I've been trying to find him through that. It was difficult in Jump City because there are so many residual traces of him there, I had the same problem when we first entered Gotham, but I can feel him now. He's close." Raven explained

"How close?" Batman asked.

"I don't know," Raven said, "I can't link directly to his mind like I usually can, something's blocking me."

"Hm." Batman said, "We'll be able to cover more ground if we split up. I've already searched the left side of the bottom floor. Beast Boy, you and I will search the rest of the bottom floor. Starfire and Raven, you search the top floor. Cyborg, see if you can find a computer."

The Titans all nodded and split up to do as they were told. Raven flew up to the second floor with Starfire where they decided to split up and each search a side. They made the circuit but didn't find anything of note so they went back down to meet with Beast Boy and Batman.

"Find anything?" Batman asked.

Raven and Starfire shook their heads.

"Hey, where's Cy?" Beast Boy asked.

"Hey guys!" Cyborg called from the room he had been in on the second floor that Raven had seen him go into a while earlier, "I think I got something."

The rest of the Titans and Batman quickly headed to the room to find Cyborg standing in front of a computer screen.

"I found security cameras." He explained when they had all entered, "They were turned off when I came in but turning them back on was easy. I did some hacking and found that they can be set to relay the images back to another source, they're not relaying anything right now but I should be able to track the signal they used."

Batman nodded, "Won't whoever the signal's being relayed to be alerted as soon as you turn it back on again?"

"Usually, but usually I'm not the one doing the hacking. It will take a little longer but I should be able to trace where he is within a three mile radius. Unless you want me to try and pin point his location exactly, but yeah that most likely will tip Slade off that we're coming for him."

"And knowing Slade he has a plan for exactly that happening." Raven added.

Batman nodded again, "I don't want to risk losing them again, Robin's mind is strong but he's never been subjected to this kind of thing before, I don't want him with that monster for longer than necessary."

"Three mile radius it is." Cyborg said, "Give me a few minutes."

Something Batman said was ringing in Raven's mind. _'Robin's mind is strong.' _This was nothing new to Raven; she had been in his mind so she _knew _how strong it was. So what about his mind being strong was bothering her? Then suddenly, like a light switching on in her brain, she knew. There wasn't something blocking her, it was some_one_! Robin was blocking her. But why? She intended to find out.

"Raven?" Beast Boy asked as she moved into her levitating meditation position, "What's up?"

"I'm about to find out." She said before closing her eyes and concentrating.

She located what she knew to be the presence of Robin's mind easily and came up against the same barrier she had before.

'_Robin.' _She called to him with her mind, _'It's Raven, you need to let me in again.'_

There was no response or change in the barrier. _'Robin, come on! Star and Batman are going crazy… we all are… please.' _She sensed a slight weakening in the barrier, _'Robin? What did I say to get you to react? Please?' _Nothing happened again, _'Starfire?' _still nothing, _'Batman?' _there it was again, that slight weakening of the barrier, _'Yes he's with us, Robin. Let me in so I can help him find you.' _The barrier was weakening but not enough for her to get in yet. She didn't understand why he wasn't just letting her in, but she had an idea. She opened her eyes and stared directly at Batman, who was apparently watching her intently, and pushed the image right into the barrier blocking her from Robin's mind and suddenly she was in. Not all the way but far enough that she would be able to find him now. He was very close by.

"I've got him!" Raven exclaimed at the same time that Cyborg declared that he had the signal but all eyes were on Raven, "Come on, he's not far!" she exclaimed, immediately running out the door and down the stairs to the warehouse's exit with everyone else close on her tail.

'_We're coming Robin!'_

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Just a note to say thanks to everyone who has taken the time to follow and favourite this story and double thanks to those of you who take the time to review! And a special thanks to ForrestGuardian311 who takes the time to correct my mistakes! <strong>

**Ok so I didn't mention this back in chapter 5 because I thought it would be glaringly obvious but apparently the Big Bang theory reference I made wasn't as obvious as I thought it was since only Fruityloops saw it, and I told her to look for it… so a shout out will be posted to whoever finds it in this chapter, it's in here twice! **

**Hope you all enjoyed this chapter :) **


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